In architecting its latest operating system (OS) for Macs — OS X version 10.8, also known as Mountain Lion — Apple liberally mimicked iOS, the operating system that runs the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Many functions and features in Mountain Lion are accessed and controlled by swiping, flicking, tapping and pinching on the surface of a trackpad (or on the top of Apple’s accessory Magic Mouse), as well as by pointing and clicking. But like operating systems of yesteryear, when trackpads and mice were far less integral, Mountain Lion also lets you use a keyboard alone to summon a feature or function.

What follows here is our choice of the most useful keyboard shortcuts in Mountain Lion (and all OS X versions, starting with OS X 10.2 Jaguar), plus a selection of our favorite ways to control the Mac OS with trackpad swipes, flicks, taps and pinches.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcuts for navigating among applications, open windows and the desktop

Command Key + Tab – Move forward to the next most recently used application in a list of open applications

Shortcuts for navigating the menu bar

Control Key + F2 – Puts the focus on the menu bar, so you can now use the following keyboard shortcuts to navigate through the menu bar menus. (Useful if your portable mouse or portable trackpad has dead batteries and won’t operate.)